Tuesday, July 6, 2010

I received an email from the Jerusalem Post that invited me to move to territory that most of the world considers occupied Arab land..."

Elias Muhanna of QifaNabki, flagged this, in FP
"Just days before a scheduled fence-mending visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I received an email from the Jerusalem Post that invited me to move to territory that most of the world considers occupied Arab land.
The email, titled "Enhanced financial assistance for Aliyah to Israel's North in 2010," promised up to $14,000 in cash and numerous other benefits ("aliyah" is the term for when Diaspora Jews move to Israel). The email showed a smiling young mother and daughter looking out over a vista of red tile-roofed houses, rolling green hills, and a large lake.
A few clicks revealed that the Golan Heights -- which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war -- is among the "northern" communities seeking prospective immigrants.
Elsewhere on the site of Nefesh B'Nefesh -- which means "Soul-to-Soul" and is the Israeli organization promoting the initiative -- was a map that linked to numerous settlements in the West Bank that are also available for newcomers. Rather like old Palestinian maps that did not acknowledge the state of Israel, the Nefesh B'Nefesh illustration omits Israel's pre-1967 "Green Line" border and any reference to the Golan Heights, West Bank, or Gaza.
Nefesh B'Nefesh, which receives one-third of its aliyah budget from the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, promises employment coaching and white-collar job opportunities. In the "North," its website says, "there is demand for grant writers, fundraisers, marketing and communications professionals and international sales people. The North is also ripe for entrepreneurship, and there are resources available to assist those who are interested in opening a business in the area...."

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